


Tallpines Hunting Tips

by LupineCrown (Wolf_of_Lilacs)



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Mentorship, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22678699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_of_Lilacs/pseuds/LupineCrown
Summary: Or the ThunderClan guide to dealing with kittypets.(Not endorsed by Tigerstar.)
Relationships: Brambleclaw & Firestar
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Tallpines Hunting Tips

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raininshadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/gifts).



"That's not how you play moss ball, mouse-brain! You're curving your paw too much."

"Oh, you think you can do it better, Rainkit? _You_?"

"I do not think. I know."

Bramblepaw groaned, his paw over his face. Ashpaw and Fernpaw and Sorreltail's kits were at it again. Never mind that Ashpaw and Fernpaw were due to be made warriors in the next few days. Bramblepaw thought it had something to do with Dappletail quipping that the Clan didn't have enough kits, so the five of them had taken it upon themselves to convince her otherwise. Bramblepaw thought they were doing a good job. A bit too good, really.

He curled into a smaller ball and flattened his ears so he could block them out.

"Bramblepaw."

Bramblepaw rolled out of his nest with a start. "Uh, good morning, Firestar." He tried to smooth his sleep-rumpled fur, with moderate success.

Firestar poked his head in. "Hunting assessment today. We'll be in Tallpines. Oh, and you've got some moss behind your ear."

Bramblepaw sighed, swiping it away. "Can you do something about the kits?" he pleaded, stretching.

"Don't worry. Thought I'd check on you first." Firestar backed out. Bramblepaw heard him politely offering Ashpaw and Fernpaw a spot on the next patrol, and the kits a conspiritorial "Graystripe needs to get out more. Go try playing moss ball with him. He does it right, I've heard." They must have raced off to do exactly that.

With a final lick and pull of his teeth on a stubborn patch of fur, Bramblepaw emerged into the clearing. The kits were no longer playing, but were whispering to Graystripe. Probably strategizing or whatever.

The fresh-kill pile was empty except for a lone shrew. Bramblepaw eyed it. Firestar noticed. "Everyone else has had their share, and you'll be bringing something back. Day like this, the prey will be out foraging before the next snow."

Bramblepaw took it gratefully, feeling a bit guilty as he did. This leaf-bare was mild compared to the last; everyone said so. He hoped Firestar was right.

They trekked out into the ravine, the frozen dirt and dead leaves rough against their paws. Firestar glanced up at the sky, mostly clear but for frozen wisps of cloud. "Better hurry. The prey certainly is."

"Why Tallpines?" Bramblepaw asked.

"Why do you think?" Firestar padded beside him, his ginger fur fluffed up impressively against the faint breeze just beginning to stir through the skeletal trees. Bramblepaw shivered at the piercing chill of it.

"There are still acorns around? Or pinecones, I mean, that they break apart?"

"Close enough," Firestar mewed.

He left Bramblepaw at the edge of the Pines and disappeared with a little flick of his tail into a large patch of dead bracken. Bramblepaw heard him sneeze and had to suppress a laugh.

It was probably within the first few minutes of stalking and listening with his ears straining forward that Bramblepaw became suspicious. He couldn't scent any prey, no matter where he went. The only rustles were the stirring of needles on the pines that had survived the fire mostly unscathed. He didn't stamp a paw in frustration, but StarClan knew he wanted to.

Firestar had something else in mind, he was sure of it.

"Oh, fluff!"

Or maybe something was scaring off the prey, instead.

Bramblepaw stiffened. There was a much louder rustling now, and the sound of little paws. He began to pad forward, step by cautious step.

As careful as he was, he started badly enough at what he saw that he was clawing at the nearest trunk before he could think.

"Wow! Are you one of those wild cats?" the kit chirruped, excited. "You don't seem so scary up there, do you?"

"Wh—What would you know?" he stammered. "I could be preparing to pounce and rip your fur into little strips to line my nest. It's pretty cold out here."

The kit—a small brown tabby with sharp blue eyes that carried the scent of Twolegs on her fur—snorted in delight. "Uh-huh." She plopped onto her side in a pile of needles and began to wash her paws. "I'm Cody. What's your name?"

"Um," he said, scrambling for something a bit more threatening to say.

"Well now, what have we here?" Firestar emerged from his hiding place, looking up at Bramblepaw in surprise, then down at the kittypet.

"Hi!" Cody mewed brightly. "He told me his name is Um. Is that a normal name for wild cats?"

Bramblepaw dropped to the ground, feeling hot under his pelt. "No, I'm Bramblepaw, and you should go. Kittypets aren't allowed on Clan territory."

Firestar gave no indication as to whether he was doing the right thing, instead giving the kit a friendly nod. "Won't your housefolk be missing you?" he asked.

"Maybe. But I was booored. I chased _all_ the mouse toys and climbed _all_ the furniture and batted at _all_ the blinds. I wanted to go out." Bramblepaw found her matter-of-factness rather endearing. He wondered what all those words meant.

"You heard her, Bramblepaw. What do you think we should do now?"

The kit was starting to shiver, Bramblepaw noticed. "You should go," he told her. "It's too cold for you to be out here. And it's dangerous."

"You haven't attacked me," she pointed out, standing and glaring at him, her tail stretched as high as it would go.

StarClan, he was freezing. He just wanted to catch some prey and go back to camp.

 _Attack her._

He thought he caught a familiar scent, thought he heard...

Maybe he should attack her.

Firestar was all at once giving Bramblepaw his full attention. "Well?"

 _Come on. It will be quick. She can't fight back. If you don't teach her now, she'll return again and again._

He recognized that voice. He shivered, and this time with something other than cold.

"I'm sorry, Cody," Bramblepaw meowed at last, his heart thudding in his ears. "You can't stay here. There aren't just cats out here. Foxes, too, who wouldn't hesitate to attack a kit like you. I'm going to help you get back home, okay? Just to make sure you get there all right."

"And to make sure I actually leave," she accused, wilting. But she must have had enough of the cold, because she didn't protest as he laid his tail across her back and steered her in the direction of Twolegplace.

He thought he heard a disappointed huff, and then the familiar scent was gone as if it had never been.

"Very good," Firestar meowed on his return. "We don't attack kits, even kittypet ones."

Bramblepaw dipped his head at the praise. "Can I hunt somewhere else? She scared off all the prey."

"There's some a few fox-lengths that way," Firestar meowed, gesturing with his tail. "And Bramblepaw?"

Bramblepaw had started off but halted at Firestar's mew. "Yes?"

"I'm proud of you. You'll make an excellent warrior."

"Thank you," Bramblepaw mewed, a little choaked, a little embarrassed, and then hurried off to find that prey.


End file.
